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Hundreds of Qantas engineers at Brisbane and Melbourne airports have walked off the job in a snap strike.
Around 300 engineers from the “alliance unions” – the AMWU, AWU and ETU – embarked on a 24-hour strike on Wednesday morning following Qantas’ “refusal” to meet with workers on a new enterprise agreement, with rallies held outside Melbourne and Brisbane’s international terminals.
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“Union members are voting overwhelmingly to escalate our industrial activities. This is because every time there is a problem at Qantas, the executives ignore it and just hope that it will go away. Well, we’re not going anywhere,” said AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy.
“If Qantas wants to show the general public that things are going to change, then valuing the workers that deliver their safety record should be number one priority.”
The strikes are the latest move in an ongoing dispute between the alliance unions and the Flying Kangaroo, with the workers demanding a 5 per cent pay rise per year as well as 15 per cent in the first year to make up for a 3.5-year wage freeze.
ETU national secretary Michael Wright called on Qantas, which has seen bumper post-COVID-19 profits in recent years, to return to the table with a better pay offer for engineers.
“It’s disgraceful for Qantas to be making profits in the billions while these highly skilled workers are having to go without the pay increase they rightfully deserve,” Wright said.
“These workers have suffered wage freezes through COVID, all while continuing to make Qantas one of the safest airlines around. Qantas needs to stop stalling, start showing their respect to these workers and pay them what they’re worth.”
In a statement, a Qantas spokesperson said the airline has “worked hard to put contingencies in place” and expected no impact on customers.
“There’s been some industrial action by engineers since late September and so far we’ve been able to successfully ensure it hasn’t resulted in any flight delays or cancellations. Our teams continue to do a great job helping customers get to their destination safely.
“We had a number of meetings with the unions prior to the industrial action. We want to continue to engage with them to find a way forward but they have chosen to take action.
“Our preference is to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and other benefits. This includes annual pay increases, increased apprentice pay, as well as new career progression opportunities and more advanced training.”
